Cultural Dessert

Friday, December 17, 2010

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

17 December 2010

On Sunday I was in Northampton to take part in the Northampton Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas Cracker Concert. It was a real ‘something for everyone’ programme including excerpts from Handel’s ‘Messiah’ (with the Daventry Choral Society) alongside Kleinsinger’s ‘Tubby the Tuba’ (expertly narrated by Graham Padden and featuring NSO tuba player Nick Tollervey). We contrasted the ‘Sleigh Ride’ by Delius with the one by Leroy Anderson. And amid all the Christmas carols there was an explosion of piracy with Klaus Badelt’s music for ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ which prompted the appearance of pirate hats, eyepatches and hooks amongst the Santa hats and tinsel. A good time had by all!

‘The Pirate Princess’ by Lea Pryer

17 December 2010

Last weekend had a distinctly piratical flavour: On Saturday we were in Toddington at the TADS Theatre to see ‘The Pirate Princess’, a new pantomime by TADS member Lea Pryer – ‘Treasure Island’ combined with ‘Twelfth Night’. It was a swashbuckling performance incorporating all the standard pantomime conventions – principal boy, a dame, sing-along audience participation, slapstick cookery scene etc – but with a rather cute dragon in place of the usual pantomime horse or cow. It was lots of fun and very impressively performed. TADS regular Rachel Birks was great as Princess Aliyah – the serious, romantic centre to the story amid all the cartoon chaos. But what really set ‘The Pirate Princess’ apart from other amateur productions was the work of professionally trained choreographer James Sygrove. He created four fantastic song and dance numbers on the tiny TADS stage, culminating in a wonderful ‘Bollywood’ finale (to AR Rahman’s ‘Yo Ho’ obviously!)

Friday, December 10, 2010

'The Trip'

10 December 2010

I know ‘The Trip’ – the BBC2 series directed by Michael Winterbottom and starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon which finished this week – has divided opinion but I thought it was wonderful. Building on the fictional relationship developed through improvised scenes in Winterbottom's 2005 film, ‘A Cock and Bull Story’, Coogan and Brydon play "loose versions of themselves" as they embark on a tour of restaurants across the North England, ostensibly for an article for The Observer Magazine. The wintry northern scenery was beautifully shot and the series has already, apparently, created an increase in visitor numbers. The blurring between reality and fiction was unsettlingly achieved: I had to remind myself constantly that we were watching Coogan and Brydon playing characters based on themselves and that each of their friends, relations and colleagues that we encountered were actors rather than the real people. Part-way through the series I began to worry that, enjoyable as it was, the format was a little formulaic with each episode reprising the same scenes in slightly different locations. But as we approached the final half-hour I began to notice the subtle story arcs that had been carefully hidden in the background. Like the best dramas it was both incredibly funny and painfully sad, saying much about ambition, relationships, male friendship and mortality. Despite the verbal jousting and subtle wordplay that characterised most of the series, or perhaps because it came so unexpectedly in this context, a couple of pieces of physical slapstick in the final episode provided a fantastic comic climax. And the recurring references to Rob Brydon’s impression of a ‘Small Man Trapped in a Box' led to a brilliant pay-off in this week’s finale. A very classy piece of television.

Friday, December 03, 2010

'Canaich' by Duncan Chisholm

3 December 2010

When you think of Scottish folk fiddle music you tend to expect frantic feats of physical dexterity creating toe-tapping dance tunes, so I was intrigued to discover a different side through the music of the amazing Scottish fiddler Duncan Chisholm. Chisholm’s 2008 album ‘Farrar’ is a hauntingly beautiful collection of slow airs and laments – a mixture of traditional tunes and new compositions – quiet and understated but incredibly moving. This week I’ve been listening to ‘Canaich’ – the new album by Duncan Chisholm. This is a more varied collection which includes a few faster dance tunes but it’s the slow, melancholic tracks that grab my attention. Chisholm’s tone is clear and pure – truly beautiful music.

About Me

Since September 2005 Robin Simpson has been Chief Executive of Voluntary Arts, which provides a universal voice for approximately 63,000 voluntary arts groups, across the UK and Ireland, involving more than 10 million participants in creative cultural activities. A keen amateur French horn player, Robin is currently a member of the Northampton Symphony Orchestra. Robin is a perennial ballroom dancing student, a frequent theatre-goer, an enthusiastic reader of contemporary fiction, an insatiable consumer of classical and world music and a keen blogger at www.culturalplayingfield.org and www.culturaldessert.blogspot.com